Cristiano Ronaldo has responded to claims that he wants to leave Portugal's 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign after the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was left on the bench for their match against Switzerland.
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The 37-year-old has dominated much of the headlines ahead of and during the World Cup.
Ronaldo was the subject of a high-profile club exit after he and Manchester United agreed to mutually terminate his contract following his now-infamous interview with Piers Morgan.
The Portuguese superstar was in the spotlight once again after his manager Fernando Santos was unimpressed with his behaviour when the forward was substituted during their final Group H game against South Korea.
Having managed to find the back of the net only once in this tournament so far, the ex-Real Madrid star once again grabbed all the media attention for all the wrong reasons when he was benched for A Selecao's 6-1 drubbing of Switzerland in the round of 16.
And while his teammates were celebrating the emphatic victory, international football's record goalscorer walked back to the changing room alone, sparking rumours of a potential row within the Portuguese dressing room.
After the victory over the Swiss, it was alleged that Ronaldo had threatened to leave his nation's World Cup campaign, but the Portuguese FA quickly leapt to their captain's defence, and the free agent has since taken to social media to hit back against the falsehood.
As per his official Twitter account, Ronaldo wrote: "A group too close to be broken by outside forces. A nation too brave to let itself be frightened by any adversary.
"A team in the truest sense of the word, which will fight for the dream until the end! Believe with us! Come on, Portugal!"
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The Iberian nation are now preparing to take on north African giants Morocco in their crunch quarter-final clash on Saturday as they look to move a step closer to lifting their first-ever World Cup trophy.
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